Cham: Now Offering Korean Tapas, Beer and Wine

Cham Korean Bistro home of such Korean delicacies as bibimbap and topokki (rice cakes) is now introducing a tapas menu full of interesting dishes like calamari tacos with sautéed kimchi, crispy tuna balls and pork bulgogi-kimchi tamales. Pair these fun bites with Cham’s new beer and wine menu and you’ve got something going on!

 

One of my favorite bites was the thinly sliced Ahi tuna with fresh chimichui sauce and sliced jalapeños.
Bright-fresh tastes of sea and earth mingled with the hot punch of the jalapeños-who needs wasabi?

Also among my favorites were the crispy tuna balls. They were made with a mixture of spicy tuna and crunch, bite sized and very popable.

Sautéed kimchi topped golden, tender calamari in corn tortillas for a little ole. Pork bulgogi and kimchi tamales also added to the fiesta of tastes dancing across my tongue.

I was also treated to non-tapas treats like the tofu pockets. If you’re at all familiar with sushi you will recognize tofu pockets as the slightly sweet brown pockets that are usually filled with rice. Cham goes a bit further and fills these sweet gems with pickled seaweed, spicy tuna, blue crab or arugula and radish. I especially liked the spicy tune and the blue crab filled pockets. What a fun dish!

 

A surprisingly delicious dish was the watermelon salad. Chunks of cool crisp watermelon were combined with feta cheese, mint, arugula, figs and mint vinaigrette; absolutely divine.

And of course don’t forget the bibimap! These sizzling complete meal dishes are served in a cast iron pan. All you do is add seasonings like hot sauce, sesame oil and stir them up! They are full of rice, vegetables and meat for a sizzling-good full meal for one or two. (There’s plenty for two!)

Looking for an adult dessert? Go no further than Cham. Give the raspberry beer float a try! It’s an icy-cold mug of raspberry beer with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This is seriously good and while it may look good to the kiddies-hands off it’s for adults only!

 

If you’ve already discovered Cham be sure and stop in for some new surprises. If you’ve never been to Cham, you’ve just got to try this unique restaurant. Cham Korean Bistro is located at 851 Cordova Street, Pasadena. They are open from 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m., Monday – Saturday. For more information call (626) 792-2474 or log onto www.chamkoreanbistro.com.